PERFORMIMG SALAH WITH A MASK
QUESTION:
As Saalamu Alaikum,
I was advised by a brother in the Masjid, that for your salaah to be valid, both your forehead and nose must touch the ground. This I’ve heard before and accepted. He continued by saying that we need to remove our masks so that both our forehead and nose will touch the ground for a valid salaah. Is he correct with anything that he said?
ANSWER:
Wa Alaikum As Salaam,
For one’s Salah to be valid, the forehead and the nose must touch the ground while performing Sajdah. This is accepted by all scholars and Muslims, as it is evident from many authentic narrations.
(If however, one has a valid reason for performing Salah on a chair, then he will be absolved from this when he cannot do Sajdah).
As for one who is wearing a mask, he must ensure that his forehead and nose touch the ground (even though the mask may cover the nose) while performing Sajdah. In this way, his Salah will be valid since it is not essential that these parts themselves touch the ground directly for Sajdah to be valid. It is sufficient that these parts touch/feel the hard surface of the ground even though a cloth or any other thin material may be between the nose and the ground. While explaining this allowance, the great scholar Ibn Qudamah writes, ‘It is not wajib (essential) that these parts of the Musali (one performing Salah) should touch the ground directly’. Qadhi Ayaadh said,’ If one prostrates on the edge of his turban, or his sleeve, or the hem of his garment, the Salah will be valid, and this is the official verdict of Imam Malik and Imam Abu Hanifah. ( Al Mughni by Ibn Qudamah vol 1 pg 512 Maktaba Al Jumhooriya Al Arabiyya Azhar Egypt).
Therefore, a person who performs Salah with a mask must wear such masks like the surgical ones or others that are similar, that are soft and flexible, so that when he goes into Sajdah he can press his face on the ground to enable his nose to touch the ground.
With respect to the forehead, this is not normally covered while wearing a mask. Therefore, it will naturally touch the ground when one does the Sajdah. If however, one wears the Medical face shield as a mask, then Salah will not be valid with this, since it is impossible to touch the forehead and nose on the ground for Sajdah while wearing this. If one wears this for Salah, then his entire face (with the forehead and nose) remains suspended from the ground in the Sajdah posture and these parts will not touch the ground. Therefore, one must take off such face shields in order to perform Salah. The same will be applicable to other types of face mask which does not allow the nose to touch the hard surface of the ground in Sajdah. Masks like these must be removed for Salah so that one’s Sajdah will be valid, which will then make the Salah valid. As for those masks that are soft and flexible, (which are made from cloth or non-woven fabric) and allow the nose to touch the ground and feel its hard surface while performing Sajdah, then one is allowed to perform Salah with these.
And Allah Knows best
Mufti Waseem Khan
19/04/2021